Every week new creations unfold at the Makerplace that showcase just how inventive the Arlington Heights community can be. From laser etching a glass to knitting a quilt, the Makerplace allows for endless possibilities, and for one local artist, using the Makerplace helped take his artwork to a whole new scale.
Raymond "RK" Liu is a graphic designer and artist whose passion for origami began as a child and evolved over time.
“It’s probably the earliest memory I have with my mother teaching me anything,” Liu said. "I was so obsessed with folding origami...every single night I would go on YouTube, look up a tutorial for something new to make and make it.”
Liu graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in graphic design and in addition to pursuing graphic design work, he also creates modular origami art pieces, which he describes as a style that uses many sheets of paper.
“Maybe it’s six, maybe it’s 12, maybe it’s 30...you’re using different pieces and usually you’re making the same type of module, and you connect them together to make a bigger structure.”
In recent months, Liu has worked on creating larger art pieces. He began using the Makerplace in June 2024 after learning about its Dremel LC40 and Epilog Fusion Edge 24 laser cutters.
He discovered he could use the Makerplace’s laser cutters to create acrylic stencils and then use these stencils to imprint crease patterns onto thick sheets of paper, which makes the folding process more efficient when working with larger scale projects.
“When you fold origami, you have to focus really hard with every single crease you make,” he said. “You want it to be as exact as it can be, and you have to be very present with your hand."
The largest modular origami piece Liu has made using the Makerplace involved 22-by-22-inch posterboards. He used the Makerplace’s laser cutter to create acrylic stencils, and a matte cutter to cut the posterboards into 90 sheets of paper. Liu created a smaller prototype and after successfully putting together a smaller version of his intended work, he used the same process to create a piece that was “30 times larger.” The piece is so big, he hasn’t moved it from his home, where he did the final construction.
“Honestly I learned a lot from the process and I’m excited to make even more big origami,” he said. “I’m very interested in taking classes...3D printing is not something I’ve done much of and I’ve been really interested in signing up for classes for that.”
The next time you create something using the library’s Studio, Makerplace or an item from the Library of Things collection, share it with the library at ahml.info/creator_spotlight.
Learn more about the Makerplace at ahml.info/makerplace.